Posts tagged ‘school’

Selling Yourself on Paper

When it comes to selling yourself on paper, you will find that newspaper editors are tough customers. After all, they put information on paper every day. There are no bonus points for correct spelling, punctuation or grammar. Those are givens. A single error can consign your résumé to the circular file. Edit your work, proofread the final copy and then double-check everything. Twice. Have someone else go over it. Make sure the editor is NOT the first person to see the finished product.

Understand the purpose of a résumé. It is not intended to get you a job. It is meant to tell the prospective employer enough about you so that they’ll look at your work samples or call you in for an interview. Use the interview, tests, tryouts and other activities to land the job. In a business where word economy is valued, one-page résumés are twice as effective as two-page résumés. Even editors with 20 years and several papers behind them limit their résumés to one page. You’re certainly free to go over that, but it’s not very smart — especially when your experience, in comparison to the editor’s — is modest.

Focused on Your Qualifications for The Job

Job interviewing can be an unnerving experience, but if you know how to handle some of the stickiest situations encountered in interviewing, you can be that much more confident. Here are 10 of the stickiest.

1. The Bad Interviewer. Not every professional who conducts job interviews with candidates knows how to conduct an interview effectively. In fact some are downright lousy at it. A bad interviewer might be unfocused, disinterested, unprepared. He or she might dominate the interview by doing all the talking or might ask inappropriate and illegal questions.

    The unfocused, unprepared interviewer probably hasn’t read your resume and maybe can’t even find a copy. This hapless soul doesn’t even know what to ask you. Be sure to offer this disorganized interviewer a copy of your resume while asking, “May I take you through some highlights of my career?”

    Interviews with an admissions

    For many students there is nothing more nerve-racking, stomach-churning, and downright intimidating than college interviews. The other components of college applications–application forms, essays, transcripts, and recommendation letters–are evaluated in the private offices of admissions officers. However, college interviews put you face to face with an actual person.

    Many colleges require interviews with an admissions officer or alumnus. They use interviews as a way to get to know you beyond the dry facts of your application and to let you ask questions about the school.

    The Most Commonly Asked Questions

    The secret to doing well on interviews is to practice. Do a mock interview with your parents or teachers. This may sound strange, but once you hear how much better you answer the same question the second time around you will understand.

    To give you an idea of what kind of questions you will be asked we have compiled a list of the most commonly asked interview questions. Try to develop answers to these questions for yourself and use them in your mock interviews.

    • Why do you want to attend X university?
    • What is your strongest/weakest point?
    • What have you done to prepare for college?
    • What has been your greatest experience in high school?
    • What do you want to do in the future?
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    Job-Search Advice for College Senior

    College Senior Job-Search Advice

    1. Max Out Your Experience.
    While you’re still in school, find time to fill any experience voids in your resume so that by the time you begin your job-search, you’ll be an unbeatable prospect to employers. If you have not yet worked in your field, now is the time to secure an internship — whether during one of the terms or during your holiday break (or even during your spring break). Internships are your strongest experience, but certainly not your only experience.

    If you’re like most college students, you probably belong to a few student organizations. As a senior, you’re typically expected to help lead — and employers want to see that leadership ability, so grab a leadership position in at least one organization.

    Of course, many other types of experiences can benefit you — some of which few students ever list on their resumes, such as work-study, part-time jobs, volunteer work, team sports, and class projects.